At StellarStay, we’ve always believed that Airbnb’s success depends on fairness, transparency, and the protection of both guests and hosts. But what happens when Airbnb fails to uphold its own rules—rules designed to ensure trust and authenticity on the platform?
This is our story.
🏡 A Simple Mistake Turned Into a Nightmare
A guest, Fabiola, stayed at our property Darvany Haven for one night.
After checkout, she left a review saying:
“La señal del wifi es muy mala traté de Comunicarme con doña Gloria y nunca me Contesto.”
(“The Wi-Fi signal is very bad. I tried to contact Doña Gloria, but she never answered.”)
The problem?
We have no one named Gloria on our team. Fabiola’s previous stay—just days before ours—was with another host named Gloria. Her review was clearly meant for that listing, not ours.
📂 Proof Airbnb Chose to Ignore
We immediately provided Airbnb with clear evidence:
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The guest’s public profile showing her previous stay with host Gloria.
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Our Airbnb message history, proving she never mentioned Wi-Fi issues.
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The fact that we responded to every message within minutes, including her requests for early check-in and a new access code.
Even Airbnb’s own support ambassador acknowledged:
“I understand that this was left in error, and I appreciate you bringing this to our attention.”
Yet despite admitting the mistake, Airbnb refused to remove the review, claiming it did not “violate the Reviews Policy.”
📜 Policy Contradictions
Airbnb’s own Reviews Policy clearly states:
“Reviews should be relevant to your experience as a guest or host on Airbnb. Off-topic reviews may be removed.” (https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2673)
The review in question was both irrelevant and inaccurate. It referred to another host, another listing, and an issue (Wi-Fi) that was never reported.
Yet Airbnb closed the case, citing “policy limitations.”
🧱 When “Support” Stops Supporting
We appealed multiple times—through the Airbnb help center, through phone calls, even through @AirbnbHelp on Twitter. Each time, support teams expressed sympathy and agreed the review was misplaced… only to refuse removal.
After weeks of back and forth, we had no choice but to ask the property owner—who speaks Spanish—to contact the guest directly.
Within minutes, the guest admitted her mistake and removed the review herself, restoring our listing’s rating and visibility.
In short: the system failed, but humanity fixed it.
🔍 A Pattern of Negligence
Sadly, this isn’t an isolated case. We have a few more ongoing cases where Airbnb has refused to remove guest reviews that clearly violate its own policies—cases where the platform ignored evidence, contradictions, and even admissions of error.
We’re still fighting those battles, and we may share the full details in the near future.
⚖️ The Bigger Problem
This experience reveals a systemic issue:
Airbnb’s review system is not truly accountable. When irrelevant or mistaken reviews remain online, they:
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Mislead future guests.
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Harm Superhosts who work tirelessly to maintain high standards.
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Undermine the credibility of the entire review system.
Reputation damage is real, and when Airbnb refuses to act, hosts bear the cost—financially and emotionally.
💬 Our Message to Airbnb
If Airbnb expects hosts to maintain trust, it must do the same.
Policies mean nothing if they are not enforced.
We stand by Airbnb’s mission of belonging anywhere—but belonging must come with fairness and responsibility.
Until hosts’ voices are respected equally, “Belong anywhere” will remain just a slogan—not a standard.
StellarStay Team
✨ Committed to integrity, hospitality, and fairness.
